It was
HOT yesterday! So we decided to get out for a ride and head for the coast to catch some nice
cool ocean breezes.
I knew it was really hot when I left to go meet my friend at a gas station closer to our intended direction. He was waiting for me and as I filled up my tank he went in and got a nice big cold bottle of water which we immediately gulped down. We took off down Hwy 12 through Sebastopl headed out toward Bodega Bay. As we went through town I looked up at the clock/thermometer and it was 95F.
That is really hot for Sebastopol and I realized it had to have been 100 or higher in Windsor. Yuck. Let's get the hell to the coast.
For being a holiday weekend (Labor Day for all of you in other parts of the world) there wasn't much traffic. I figured everyone was hunkered down somewhere out of the heat. But it did start getting cooler as we got closer to the ocean. Whew!
We turned off before we got to Bodega and headed for Valley Ford on Hwy. 1. This is a nice little curvy road that gets us away from the bit of traffic that there is. In Valley Ford is the road that heads off to Dillon Beach. We could feel the coolness of the ocean now and we were headed out on a very nice twisty road over the hills and past the dairy farms. One of the things I enjoy is smelling all the smells of the plants and the earth. Each area has its own smells and the coastal scrub has its own plant community with plants that have lots of aromatic oils that really come out on warm days. Even with it being warm here, we can feel it getting much cooler and the wind is rather gusty through the canyons.
We come to another road that comes from Tomales and Pt. Reyes where we have to turn towards Dillon Beach. Much more traffic here. I think everyone had the same idea to head to the cool. At this point the air is getting much cooler and we can see the ocean now and smell the sea breezes. Not much further. In all, it's only about 30 miles from where I live. We get to the little town and the one restaurant and store. The little parking lot is packed, but people are pulling out and we pull into a corner that is just made for our bikes. 8-)
It is a spectacular day here. The sun is shining off the ocean and there is only a little mist way off in the distance. This is a place that is usually socked in with fog. What an incredible day. We go into the restaurant for a bite to eat and sit at the window with a view. Off to the south is the opening to Tomales Bay. This bay is actually made by the crevice made by the San Andreas fault. Pt. Reyes is on the piece of land on the other side of the fault. There is a beautiful very long white sand beach and we can see that there is quite a crowd down there. And lots of kites in the air. The continuous ocean breeze (wind really) keeps the kites up very well.
After finishing our fish and chips, we go sit outside on a bench and just enjoy the coolness of the air here knowing that we have to start back. We go back up to Hwy 1 and Valley Ford and back to Bodega Hwy. But I take us up a back road so we don't have to go through town again. I can't remember the name of that road, but it winds around and up and down through nice wooded areas so it's shady, but the cool breezes are gone now and it's getting hot again. I'm ready to get home now. It's just too hot. We end up on Occidental Rd. which takes us to Hwy 16. This is home territory now and I lead the way on back roads to take us to River Rd and the back roads to Windsor. It gets hotter with every mile, and even the deep shady places on the roads that are usually cool are hot today.
We get home, and get the bike put away. There's a nice cold piece of watermelon waiting for us.
